This research investigates airline brand equity in a sequential, mixed method study. The initial, exploratory study undertaken with the focus groups identified relevant issues that influence airline brand equity. The secondary associations of airline brands are often related to the airlines’ country of origin and culture or the intangible cues that are used in airline advertisements. These intangible cues and secondary associations play an important role in triggering airline brand awareness and the unique brand value proposition of each airline. The questionnaire-based study shows that the structure of airline brand equity is comprised of three factors. The first factor highlights the importance of airlines being able to provide suitable and innovative products and consistently good service. The second factor is a reflection of the first factor, i.e. airlines that can deliver both suitable tangible products and good services will be able to establish a large base of loyal customers. The third factor highlights the importance of establishing brand awareness. Based on the structure of airline brand equity that was found, there are four clusters of airline passengers with similar airline brand perceptions, namely: ‘Loyal customers’; ‘Asking for consistency customers’; ‘Hard to please customers’; and ‘Difficult to talk to customers’. The determinant attribute analysis shows that the determinant for the choice of airline brand is different. Each airline is different in its branding, products and service strategies. This suggests that the ways in which each airline brand can meet the needs of each group of airline passengers will also be different. This research demonstrates that the structure of airline brand equity for fullservice and low-cost carrier brands is different. For full-service carrier brands, it is the delivery of suitable tangible products and services that encourages loyalty. In contrast, when price is the most influential determinant attribute, it is the low-cost carrier brands’ resources and ability to offer consistently low fares that helps them to establish a large base of repeat customers.

The thesis considers the multiple perspectives of the brand and evaluates their relevance for the development of university brand promises. It finds that contrary to existing published presumptions, there is considerable potential for the application of branding within the university context. Qualitative data collected from four English universities, two pre-1992 universities: Durham University and The University of Manchester, and two post-1992 universities: the University of Bedfordshire and Oxford Brookes University provide empirical support for the institutional and product related categories around which university brand promises can be defined, categories brought together in the development of an Institutional and Product Dimensions Model. The thesis presents universities’ own perspectives on university branding to assess the level of buy-in, resonance, and understanding of sector fit. Primary evidence is considered against a series of perspectives and models including Product Dimensions and a Differentiation Perspectives Model to identify the breadth and depth to which differentiation is actually achievable in a university environment. Supported by an analysis of 85 English university websites, the research also identifies the 33 characteristic categories around which university brand promises are defined, characteristics brought together through the development of The Brand Promise Characteristic Model. Coupled with that finding is the risk to differentiation that high characteristic convergence around a relatively small set of characteristics presents. The development of The Characteristic Convergence Model captures the areas around which high characteristic convergence is most prevalent. While the research identifies that there is considerable potential for the development of university brand promises, it is in relation to the delivery that the challenges are most acute. The conceptualisation of the factors influencing the delivery of the brand promise identifies the unique sectoral challenges to the application and delivery of university brand promises, concepts such as delivery demarcation, visual identity flouting, jurisdictional impotency, functional irreverence, academic disparateness, subject fixation, and parochialism.

This thesis aims to provide an original context for the emergent use of Web 2.0 technologies by brands and their communication agents (advertising, PR and marketing) as they engage consumers in (a branded form of) dialogue. This is achieved by exploring the content and style of brand-consumer communications in Web 2.0 platforms, by appraising advertising discourses in collaborative and interactive environment of Twitter. This study focuses in particular on the use of language and the role that other communicative modes play in Web 2.0-mediated interactions and the possible implications they might have on brand-consumer power relations. This thesis adopts a critical inter-disciplinary approach, and is designed to inform the emerging field of digital commercial communications. More specifically, by applying social and cultural theories of new media with the social Web, this study sets out to contribute to emerging literature and debates on the socio-economic implications of Web 2.0 communications in the context of advertising. Critical theories of advertising and new media have been utilised to shape a framework for analysing communications in collaborative and often interactive digital advertising settings. This, and a body of primary research through first-hand interviews, plus analysis of exemplar of Web 2.0-mediated brand-consumer communications, enables me to consider more broadly the ways in which capitalism has been repositioned within the new digital environment. To achieve this, this study has appropriated two research methods in it’s handling of primary evidence. The first part of analysis appraises eight semi-structured interviews I conducted with digital strategy makers and ‘brand ambassadors’ working within the contemporary international advertising industry, acting on behalf of multinational brands. The second part analyses the content of brand-consumer communications within Web 2.0 platforms, notably Twitter, through four different sectors spanning service, product and cause sectors. Cases are of Starbucks Coffee (fast moving consumer goods), Dell Computers (IT sector), Burberry (luxury fashion) and Yes Scotland (a political cause). The overarching aim is to assess product or service-driven digital advertising strategies that have most effectively exploited (or best lend themselves to) social Web platforms to leverage their ideology and generate social supports. The results of my analysis suggest that although Web 2.0-mediated communications between brands and consumers exhibit some characteristics of participatory culture, the actual nature of the conversational qualities and the types of interaction spans a much wider spectrum. Some discourses are in fact monologue, while others contain consumer-generated responsive dialogue and more proportionate mutual discourse. The latter ultimately contributes in co-creating and shaping discourses that reinforce and stabilise existing hierarchical relations between producers and consumers.

The aim of this study was to investigate consumers’ decision of selecting a restaurant for leisure. It was based on research carried out in the South East of the UK. In line with the cognitive paradigm the importance of attributes was approached from the theoretical perspective of utility theory in which consumers pursue maximisation of benefits from the service which they are evaluating. This study follows a sequential mixed methods approach. It consists of a qualitative stage followed by a quantitative stage, each one adhering to the precepts of their own paradigms. The qualitative stage was based on data collected through six focus groups of four to six respondents. An interview guide was used in semi-structured settings and data was analysed using applied thematic analysis. The second stage employed an online survey generating quantitative data from 376 respondents. The theme of ‘eating out occasion’, such as a romantic dinner, was a key element of the decision-making process. This thesis presents a framework for examining the different stages of the decision using the stylised Engels, Kollat and Blackwell (EKB) model (Tuan-Phan and Higgins, 2005). Its stages delve into the influence of emotions, motivations and the consumer’s regulatory focus in the decision. The methodological design with the possibility of selecting attributes, emerging from the qualitative stage, offers a contribution to the use of conjoint analysis for complex decisions. The study also proposes a new typology of restaurant attributes, with seven categories influencing perceived consumer value. The study’s findings further indicate that price is a factor influencing the expectations from the other attributes. The study considers a number of implications for the industry, such as, the importance of service and consumers’ willingness to pay more for a service that is friendly, welcoming and attentive. It also suggests many areas for further research.

This research considers different aspect of modelling risk in the emerging markets. It places particular emphasis on modelling default probability in emerging bond markets, modelling country risk in emerging stock markets, modelling market risk in emerging stock markets and examining the appropriate asymmetric volatility model in emerging stock market as well as examining whether the long term memory in volatility exists in emerging stock market. More specifically, the aims of this study is to answer the following research questions: (1) what are the main factors determine and what is the best model to explain default probability in emerging bond market; (2) which model is the best to use to modelling country risk in emerging markets; (3) what is the best model to be used for explaining market risk in emerging stock markets; (4) what is the best asymmetric model to be used in emerging stock markets and is the SEMIFAR model successful at modelling long memory in the volatility of emerging stock markets. The study shows that the fluctuation in default probability in emerging bond markets can be explained by macroeconomic variable and financial variable. With regard to the second research question, it was found that the Kalman Filter model (in particular the Random Walk technique) was the best model to predict country risk in emerging stock markets. The result of the study shows that the most successful model to capture market risk (or extreme risk) in emerging stock market is the conditional t. The study also shows that emerging stock markets are more sensitive to bad news than to good news as indicated by their higher volatility during down-market as compared to up-market. It was found that the TGARCH model is the most appropriate model to be used for explaining asymmetry volatility in emerging stock markets. Finally, the result of this study reveals the existence of long term memory in emerging stock markets and the successfulness of SEMIFAR model to capture the phenomenon.

Customer relationship management (CRM) or the electronic version of CRM (eCRM) helps organisations to focus on their customers and to take advantage of the knowledge about them to increase the organisation's market share, sales and profit. Due to globalisation and stiff competition, organisations have changed their focus from business-centric to customer-centric, from customer acquisition to customer retention and from mass marketing to target marketing. There are many definitions of eCRM, but for the purpose of this thesis, eCRM is discussed from an information system perspective. This research investigates the factors that might influence the success of eCRM system implementation in a large organisation in the United Kingdom. In this research, system implementation refers to the use of the system in the organisation .. This research analyses the internal and external factors that influence th~ success of implementing the system, which include system factors, organisation factors, management factors, staff factors, and customer factors. The research has also discovered additional contributing factors as well as affecting factors, which include use of the eCRM system as a monitoring and productivity tool, and competitors, regulators and inconsistencies in the work process. This qualitative research was conducted using a case study in a large contact centre organisation in North-West UK. The research methods include personal experience, participant observation, open-ended questions and document analysis. The output of the research is a blueprint that details all the activities and work processes involved in using the eCRM system. A Ripple model is then constructed from this blueprint, which shows the inter-dependency and inter-relation of the contributing and inhibiting factors. The research concludes by highlighting the key contributions stemming from the case study, and discussing future research work that can be extended from this thesis.

E-commerce is the process of buying and selling products and services on the internet. This type of transaction is such that customers are able to see the virtual appearance through images, technical information, and video clips of products/services, but cannot obtain the actual experience of face-to-face touch, smell, and visualization. Such virtual experience coupled with the absence of a seller may create a sense of unreliability and vulnerability in the minds of the customers. Moreover, due to the nature of the internet, users are being susceptible to online frauds arising out of the activities of unscrupulous third parties. All these affect the trust of customers in online transactions and thereby affect online purchase decisions. A number of studies have been conducted to identify the factors that affect trust in e- commerce. However, none of these studies have been able to provide a comprehensive list of the factors that affect trust. Moreover, some of the studies had problems relating to use of inappropriate sampling techniques and using student samples and hence, raising issues of representativeness and affecting generalizability of the findings. Some studies also had also problems relating to the statistical techniques being used to analyze the data. Considering these limitations, the present study is undertaken. This present study is complementary to previous studies and aims at answering the following questions: How do we measure trust in online transactions? What are the factors that affect trust in e- commerce? How do the factors affecting trust relate and inter-relate to each other? To answer these questions, a review of the existing literature on factors affecting trust is conducted. This enables to develop the theoretical framework of the study having a number of hypotheses culminating in the development of a model for trust in e- commerce. For the study, a normative survey technique was used. An online questionnaire made it possible to enumerate 789 respondents, responses of 703 were usable. The data collected was screened and pre-tested to see whether they qualify for multivariate data analysis. Once this was ensured, statistical techniques such as exploratory factor analysis using principal component analysis, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and structural equation modelling (SEM) were applied to test the hypotheses. The findings of the study show that the factors directly affecting trust in e-commerce are market orientation, perceived security and technological trustworthiness, and relational benefit. Moreover, the findings show that user interface quality affects relational benefit. The two factors, 'importance of websites' reputation' and 'social presence' affect trust indirectly with perceived security and technological trustworthiness playing the mediating role. Another factor, 'perceived product and service information quality’ proved to have no relationship with relational benefit. The analysis of the results explaining the inter-relationships led to the confirmation of the model for trust in e-commerce. This model was further tested across samples with differing web experience, age, gender, and income. There were no significant differences in the parameter estimates of the relationships in the model. This indicates that the model is generalizable across different populations. In conclusion, the research has certain contributions to existing knowledge. These include - The development of a comprehensive model explaining the dependence and interdependence of the factors affecting trust in e-commerce. Understanding of trust in e-commerce as a multi-dimensional construct consisting of four dimensions― ability, benevolence, integrity, and predictability. Understanding the role of the direct and indirect influence of the factors affecting trust that led to reduction in risk perceptions. Additionally, the research contributes to certain managerial and business practices. Online businesses need to develop their websites to enable convenience in navigation by improving layout and design features of the websites. Moreover, to cater to the tastes and preferences of customers, e-commerce websites need to provide products and service desired suitable by customers. To attract customers, a sense of warmth and human touch need to be introduced in the websites. Coupled with this, there is the need to improve security features and privacy issues.

This thesis presents an Action Research project investigating the use of customers’ perceptions of premium and luxury cars within the premium automotive industry. The research was sponsored by Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), a UK-based automotive manufacturer. An inductive, phenomenological approach was adopted in which JLR’s Premiumness Research Programme (PRP) was used as a case study to build an understanding of the consumer’s perception of luxury, to discover how to communicate this understanding within the business, and to determine how it could be integrated into the NPD process. A passive exploratory study was conducted to understand JLR’s PRP work, to seek new insights about the nature of customer’s reactions when evaluating luxury and premium cars, and to assess JLR’s approach in conducting the PRP. An interventionist descriptive study was conducted to probe for deeper insights into how successful JLR’s research and dissemination process had been within the company, to establish how the wider NPD community interacted with the data, and to develop and test new ideas and tools that enhanced the utility and accessibility of the PRP data. The research generated 58 Research Observations and 36 individual insights that challenged conventional wisdom about how the voice of the customer (VoC) can be captured and used in the NPD process. JLR’s PRP methodology was revealed as a powerful multi-method technique for acquiring data about consumers’ expectations of luxury automotive brands and products, their reactions when evaluating luxury and premium vehicles, and their emotional satisfaction with features and attributes of luxury and premium vehicles. Limitations in JLR’s ability to process and operationalise such data lead to the development of a Premiumness Verbatims Database tool which enabled the wider NPD community to access the PRP knowledge in a safe and meaningful way by considering the translation and utility of subjective VoC data.

Recent developments in marketing and technological fields have raised concerns about the usefulness of market segmentation as an effective marketing practice. Furthermore, the segmentation literature has highlighted significant implementation problems, due to a gap between academics’ focus on the research methodology involved in identifying segments and practitioners’ concerns for impactful and implementable segmentation strategies. Consequently, research providing quantifiable evidence of the impact of segmentation has been identified as a priority. This research addresses this issue by reconceptualising market segmentation as a dynamic capability, identifying the components of a firm’s segmentation capability and determining its influence on business performance. The research is conducted within the critical realism paradigm and adopts a sequential qualitative-quantitative methodology. Through 24 in-depth interviews with marketing managers and segmentation experts, the processes, mechanisms and structures affecting segmentation implementation and its outcomes are identified. Based on the qualitative findings and extant literature, market segmentation capability is delineated and a model of the relationships between market segmentation capability and business performance is developed and tested empirically with survey data from a sample of 205 marketing directors from eight industries. The quantitative findings support a process of analysis-integration-execution of segmentation schemes and also suggest three additional pathways of influence from segmentation analysis to business performance. These pathways are found to depend on the market growth rate and firm’s marketing resources. This research bridges the gap between market segmentation theory and practice by broadening the segmentation field to include the study of managerial practices and performance implications of segmentation. The main theoretical contribution relates to the delineation of market segmentation as a dynamic capability, providing new insights into market segmentation as a managerial practice. Significant contributions are also generated by the confirmation of a significant relationship between segmentation capabilities and business performance and the identification of pathways of influence between them, explained by the development of segmentation execution capability and generic marketing capabilities.

Responding to the call to give more attention to the area of product consumption, this research investigates the enjoyment in consuming or using a product. More specifically, this research investigates its existence and characteristics; examines its influence to subsequent consumer attitudes and behaviour; and examines how it operates across consumers in order to identify ways of influencing consumers when they encounter it. The main contribution of this research is to establish empirically a complex consumer-enjoyment construct. Through Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Structural Equation Modeling the construct - termed New Toy Effect (NTE) - has been shown not only to exist, but also to be meaningful. NTE is found to be the underlying latent factor of hedonic experience, flow and play, and to be better able to predict the variables of Repurchase Intention, Satisfaction and Opinion Leadership than the models of hedonic, flow and play can do separately. NTE represents consumer experiential enjoyment that integrates the three extant models of hedonic experience, flow, and play. The research has revealed the long-awaited structure of consumer experiential enjoyment and its impact on subsequent behaviour and attitude.